I«  •  rt  |-   '  '   '   *  *  *■  -   *  --*  «■«•«■-»-*-»   *-  * 


iAt<mriniitnniitmt<itt*t<j 


' 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 


axd 


SERMON,  . 


ELDER  JACOB  KING 


> 


OP 


UPSON    COUNTY,    GEORGIA: 


TOO ETHER    WITH    A 


FUNERAL   SERMON 


BY 


BLDEB    B.    P.    TIIARP, 


OF 


PERRY,  GEORGIA. 


MACON,   GA.: 

BURKE,    BOYKIX    &    COMPANY. 
1864. 

MMIMM MUM >M » "II1 


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in  2011  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/biographicalsket01thar 


R.H.H  OV\  E  Li.      LITH. 


f/IILLEDGEVILLE 


fa&&£-\fcLL 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 


AND 


SERMON, 


OF 


EIDER  JACOB  KING, 


or 


UPSON*  COUNTY,    GEORGIA: 


TOGETHER   WITH  A 


FUNERAL  SERMON 


BY 


ELDER  B.   F.   THARP, 


OP 


PERRY,  GEORGIA. 


MACON,  GA,: 

BURKE,    BOYKIN    &    COMPANY, 
1864. 


gfejputybg  of  met  faco*  §i«g- 


BY  REV.  B.  F.  THARP. 


Died  at  his  residence  in  Upson  County,  Ga.,  on  the  9th  of 
August,  1862,  Rev.  JACOB  KING.  He  was  born  6th  Sep- 
tember, 1796,  was  hopefully  converted  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  June,  1820,  and  was  baptized  by  John  M,  Gray,  into 
the  Newhope  Church,  Jones  County,  Ga.,  on  the  first  Lord's 
Day  in  July  thereafter.  He  was  married  to  Matilda  Wilson, 
8th  January,  1817. 

Soon  after  his  conversion,  he  was  impressed  with  a  desire  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  but  a  sense  of  his  own  unworthiness  pre- 
vented him  till,  in  1825,  Providence  cast  his  lot  on  Flint  River, 
in  Upson  County.  He  was  led  to  make  the  attempt  in  the 
name  of  his  Master,  because  of  the  destitution  around  him. 
The  country  was  then  in  its  frontier  state,  and  very  destitute  of 
the  preached  Gospel.  His  first  sermon  was  from  the  11th 
chapter  of  John :  "He  that  believeth,  though  he  were  dead, 
yet  shall  he  live ;  and  he  that  liveth  and  believeth  shall  never 
die." 

In  the  year  1826,  the  Bethlehem  Church  having  been  deprived 
by  death  of  the  services  of  her  excellent  Pastor,  Thos.  Leverett, 
unanimously  called  for  the  ordination  of  Mr.  King.  Accord- 
ingly he  was  set  apart  to  the  full  work  of  the  Ministry,  by  a 
Presbytery  composed  of  John  Hamrick  and  Henry  Hooten. 
Mr.  King  was  then  exactly  thirty  years  of  age,  his  ordination 
having  been  held  on  his  birthday.  In  the  following  October, 
he  took  the  care  of  the  Bethlehem  and  Fellowship  Churches, 
upon  which  a  great  revival  of  religion  began  and  many  converts 
were  added. 

From  that  date  till  the  close  of  his  useful  life,  he  was  one  of 
the  most  laborious  of  Ministers.  He  generally  preached  to  four 
Churches,  often  supplied  others  in  the  week,  and  was  always 
active  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to  destitute  neighborhoods,  thus 
introducing  it  into  "  the  regions  beyond." 


6  BIOGRAPHY  OF  ELDER  JACOB  KING. 

He  was  a  strong  and  fearless  advocate  of  the  Temperance 
Reformation.  In  that  frontier  country  intemperance  prevailed 
to  an  alarming  extent.  Thoroughly  convinced  of  its  evil  and 
dangerous  tendency,  he  entered  the  lists  against  it,  and  was 
unsparing  also  to  those  Church  members  who  fell  victims  to  the 
sin.  His  genius  and  fertile  imagination  never  left  him  without 
the  means  of  enforcing  his  views  with  success  and  power.  One 
of  the  best  temperance  lecturers  in  this  State,  who  often  met 
Mr.  King,  said  that  he  never  met  any  man  who  could  present 
the  cause  of  temperance  with  more  attractions. 

In  the  unfortunate  division  of  the  Baptist  family  upon  the 
subject  of  Missions,  he  espoused  the  side  of  benevolence,  and 
urged  its  claims  to  the  day  of  his  death.  He  was  surrounded 
by  a  strong  anti-influence,  and  yet  he  maintained  his  cause  with 
such  a  versatility  of  talent  and  such  power,  as  to  cause  it 
steadily  to  prevail.  His  neighbors  and  friends  were  strong 
advocates  for  Anti-ism,  and  they  arrayed  considerable  talent, 
wealth,  and  personal  influence  against  the  cause  which  he  advo- 
cated ;  but  amid  all  these  influences,  by  the  force  of  proper 
argumentation  and  a  proper  life,  he  gained  converts  to  his  cause. 
When  the  division  took  place,  one  of  them  said  to  him,  "  We 
shall  see  who  are  in  the  right,  by  the  blessing  of  God  which 
shall  follow  the  right."  He  readily  accepted  the  test,  and  often 
pointed  to  the  abundant  blessing  of  God  upon  the  labors  of 
missionaries,  to  prove  to  them  at  least  that  ours  was  the  right 
cause.  He  thought  for  himself  upon  all  subjects.  No  man  was 
farther  from  accepting  any  opinion  upon  the  "  say  so "  of 
another.  And  this  originality  of  thinking  early  led  him  to 
prefer  the  plan  of  Missions  adopted  by  the  Rehoboth  Associa- 
tion. He  saw  in  Conventions  a  power  which  could  be  easily 
abused,  and  did  nbt  favor  them  nor  often  attend  them.  He 
believed  the  Churches  were  the  only  organization  necessary  to 
the  world's  evangelization.  He  was  willing  to  unite  Churches 
in  this  work  for  the  sake  of  the  strength  which  the  union 
imparted — but  farther  than  that  he  was  not  willing  to  go. 
Hence  he  was  the  earnest  advocate  of  the  first  motion  made  in 
the  Association  to  send  out  and  support  a  Missionary  to  the 
Africans ;  and  when,  after  years  of  trial,  it  was  found  that  two 
directors  to  the  same  work  did  not  advance,  but  rather  hindered 
it,  he  was  equally  earnest  in  advocating  a  separation  from  the 


BIOGRAPHY   OF  ELDER  JACOB  KING. 


Boards.  No  cause  was  dearer  to  him  than  the  cause  of  missions, 
and  to  the  world's  salvation  he  gave  the  whole  of  his  converted 
life. 

His  talents  were  of  the  first  order.  If  one  word  were 
required  to  express  the  character  of  his  mind,  that  word  would 
be  genius.  He  thought,  spake,  acted,  just  like  no  other  man. 
He  did  not  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  collegiate  education.  In 
fact,  like  most  men  of  his  age  and  locality,  he  enjoyed  few 
literary  advantages  in  early  life ;  yet  he  spake  with  great  pro- 
priety, had  fine  command  of  appropriate  language,  and  was  an 
excellent  scribe.  He  had  a  fine  sense  of  what  was  fitting  and 
proper  in  any  situation  or  position,  and  was  scarcely  ever  known 
to  violate  the  rules  of  propriety.  He  had  a  most  fertile  and 
inexhaustible  imagination,  and  descriptive  powers  which  were 
inimitable.  He  also  possessed  the  rare  faculty  of  weaving  anec- 
dotes into  his  sermons  and  speeches,  which  gave  him  great 
power  over  his  audience,  whether  he  desgined  to  gain  the  atten- 
tion or  fix  the  heart.  To  all  those  rare  powers  he  added  an 
iron  will.  No  man  can  be  great  without  this,  and  this  he  pos- 
sessed in  no  ordinary  degree.  When  he  resolved  to  do  a  thing 
nothing  but  impossibilities  could  prevent  it. 

His  theology  was  just  what  such  a  man  would  be  supposed 
to  believe  and  teach.  He  held  to  the  universal  and  total 
depravity  of  human  nature ;  to  man's  utter  incapacity  to  recover 
himself;  to  the  efficacy  of  the  Spirit's  work;  and  to  "the  suffi- 
ciency of  the  Atonement  of  Christ.  He  held  to  universal  and 
unlimited  invitations  of  mercy  as  consistent  with  limitation  in  the 
application  of  the  Atonement.  When  listening  to  his  discourses 
on  the  power  of  the  Cross,  the  hearer  would  be  convinced  no  man 
ever  loved  the  Saviour  better.  It  would  have  appeared,  in  hear- 
ing him  in  his  happier  moments,  that  if  Paul  had  risen  from  the 
dead  he  would  have  found  nothing  to  condemn.  His  sermons 
were  generally  short,  and  he  left  his  hearers  wishing  that  he 
had  said  more.  They  were,  however,  formed  after  no  model ; 
it  was  impossible  for  such  a  mind  to  be  trammelled  by  rules. 
Perhaps  all  of  his  sermons  would  have  been  liable  to  criticism, 
judged  after  the  method  of  the  schools ;  but  none  of  the  mas- 
ters could  have  brought  up  an  audience  to  any  given  point  with 
more  order  and  certainty  than  could  he.  When  he  was  to 
preach  set  discourses,  no  one  could  guess  what  kind  of  text  he 


8 


BIOGRAPHY  OF  ELDER  JACOB  KING. 


would  select — much  less  how  he  would  handle  it.  He  was 
eminently  a  great  preacher — if  by  great  preacher  be  meant  one 
who  vindicates  the  whole  truth,  converts  souls,  and  ably  recom- 
mends Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Saviour  of  sinners.  Few  men  in 
the  same  time  have  preached  more  sermons,  or  baptized  more 
converts ;  and  his  converts  generally  wore  well.  He  had  a  clear 
insight  into  the  character  of  men,  and  could  come  as  near  as 
any  living  man  in  detecting  and  unmasking  the  hypocrite. 
Indeed,  he  was  the  last  man  whom  the  hypocrite,  who  knew 
him,  would  attempt  to  deceive.  He  preached  to  the  same  people 
from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  his  ministry — a  proof  that  he 
possessed  both  talent  and  piety :  for  if  he  had  not  possessed 
talents  he  would  have  worn  out,  and  if  he  had  not  possessed 
piety  his  sins  would  have  exposed  him.  He  possessed  a  ready 
wit  and  great  power  at  repartee.  His  friends  remember  a 
certain  occasion  when,  having  heard  a  sermon  from  a  Univer- 
salist  preacher,  he  demolished  all  the  preacher  had  said  in  one 
single,  short,  pithy  sentence. 

As  a  presiding  officer,  he  was  prompt,  punctual,  well-informed 
and  impartial.  During  the  whole  time  that  the  Rehoboth  Asso- 
ciation has  had  existence,  the  writer  does  not  know  of  a  single 
absence  on  his  part  from  the  meetings,  nor  does  he  believe  that 
at  any  time  a  vote  was  ever  cast  for  any  other  person  as  pre- 
siding officer.  His  own  genius  and  imagination  supplied  him 
ample  means  of  directing  the  affairs  of  the  Association,  and 
restoring  brotherly  feeling  where  it  was  about  to  be  lost.  What 
these  lacked  was  furnished  by  that  remarkable  run  of  good  sense 
which  was  his  peculiar  characteristic.  He  had  an  uncommon* 
share  of  "  common  sense,'' — so  very  rmcommon  that  it  ever 
makes  distinguished  philosophers,  statesmen,  warriors  or  divines. 
Such  was  the  share  of  this  which  nature  afforded  him,  that  he 
could  have  succeeded  in  any  of  the  learned  professions  or  any 
department  of  business. 

He  had  great  affection  for,  and  care  of  young  ministers.  Ho 
often  thanked  God  for  them.  He  was  ever  willing  to  advise 
them,  and  felt  it  his  duty  to  correct  their  faults.  This  he  did 
in  such  kind  and  gentle  manner  as  ever  afterwards  endeared 
him  to  them.  He  always  sought  to  aid  the  indigent  in  procuring 
a  proper  education,  and  scarcely  ever  closed  an  Association 
without  a  special  address  to  them. 


BIOGRAPHY   OF  ELDER  JACOB   KING. 


But  there  were  two  positions  in  which  he  shone  forth  pre- 
eminently the  man  and  the  Christian — as  master  and  husband. 
He  treated  his  servants  like  children ;  he  loved  them  tenderly 
and  took  great  care  of  their  morals.  Once  he  thought  of  remov- 
ing to  a  distant  country,  and  was  very  particular  to  inquire  after 
the  morals  of  the  negroes  there,  fearing  they  might  corrupt  his 
own.  Some  years  since,  several  of  them  died,  and  he  watched 
and  prayed  with  them  to  the  last,  and  had  unspeakable  satis- 
faction in  the  hope  of  heaven  they  expressed. 

As  a  husband,  he  was  a  perfect  model.  "No  affection  for  any 
earthly  object  could  induce  him  to  neglect  his  ministerial 
duties ;  but  when  these  were  over,  he  would  often  ride  almost 
the  whole  night  to  visit  a  wife  who  might  be  afflicted,  and  to 
see  how  all  did  at  home.  Then  he  would  return  to  the  same 
work  on  the  morrow.  He  had  no  children  of  his  own,  but 
loved  them  ardently,  and  was  an  excellent  companion  for  them. 
His  little  niece  whom  he  was  educating,  and  who  was  a  member 
of  his  family,  was  the  object  of  Ills  unceasing  solicitude  and  care. 

He  never  possessed  a  very  strong  physical  constitution.  When 
he  first  entered  the  ministry  he  was  so  feeble  that  he  had  to 
leave  the  flock  in  summer.  But  he  lived  to  good  old  age. 
Inflammation  of  the  lungs,  brought  on  by  excessive  labor  and 
cold,  terminated  his  existence  after  several  weeks  of  suffering. 
He  could  converse  but  little.  He  said  from  the  beginning  that 
he  would  die  ;  that  he  had  never  done  any  work  to  merit  any- 
thing of  the  Lord,  but  that  all  he  hoped  for  must  come  through 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  asked  his  deacons  to  pray  that  he 
might  be  fully  resigned  to  the  will  of  God.  IJe  retained  his 
senses  to  the  last ;  and  just  before  he  breathed  his  last,  called 
his  servants  to  him,  shook  each  by  the  hand,  and  said,  "  Fare- 
well," told  them  to  bring  his  little  niece  to  him,  when  he  long 
and  affectionately  embraced  her ;  bade  adieu  to  all  around,  com- 
posed himself  for  a  moment,  and  then  gently  "fell  asleep  in 
Jesus."  Thus  died  this  eminent  servant  of  the  Lord,  who 
"  rests  from  his  labors,  and  his  works  do  follow  him."  We 
mourn  him — we  shall  never  look  upon  his  like  again. 


JJ,  $txm*u 

BY    REV.    JACOB    KING, 

Preached  on  Monday,  23d  of  September,  1861,  at  the  Session 
of  Flint  River  Association,  held  at  Shiloh,  Monroe  County, 
Georgia: 


[reported.] 


Text  : — u  Phil,  ii :  1.     Finally  brethren  pray  for  us,"  &c. 

I  would  be  glad,  my  friends,  if  I  could,  by  any  means,  arrest 
your  feelings,  and  direct  your  attention  a  little  this  way.  If  you 
will  at  the  start  listen  just  one  moment  until  I  tell  you  one  thing, 
one  little  thing — when  you  have  heard  it,  you  may  go  away  and 
do  as  you  please,  just  as  you  always  do. 

Once  in  the  course  of  my  life,-  along  time  ago — (they  say  you 
know  that  I  am  old  fogy)  it  was  my  privilege  and  my  happiness 
to  be  sent  up  to  an  Association  away  up  yonder  above  the  Rock 
Mountain.  I  was  put  up  to  preach  under  rather  unfavorable 
circumstances,  such  as  they  are  now.  The  people,  I  may  as 
well  tell  you,  thought  I  was  rather  a  bad  chance*  and  I  could 
not  get  them  to  turn  their  faces  towards  me,  or  to  pay  attention 
to  me,  and  as  the  wind  was  blowing  right  in  my  face,  it  was  a 
hard  struggle  for  me  to  go  on.  At  last  I  said  to  them,  if  you 
just  will  listen  to  me  a  little,  my  friends,  I  will  tell  you  an  anec- 
dote. Once  there  was  a  little  boy,  a  beggar  boy,  who  after 
rambling  about  the  streets  of  a  village  in  search  of  something 
to  eat,  for  he  was  hungry,  at  last  came  up  to  a  good  lady's 
house,  and  seeing  her,  commenced,  "Now,"  says  he,  "if, 
Madam,  you  will  just  give  me  some  bread  and  put  a  little  but- 
ter on  it,  I  will  tell  you  something  that  will  do  you  good  all  the 
days  of  your  life."  At  first  the  lady  said,  "  Begone  boy  !  I 
have  no  business  with  you ;  begone."  But  still  the  beggar  boy 
would  not  go,  but  repeated  as  before,  "If  you  will  just  give 
me  a  piece  of  bread  and  put  some  butter  on  it,  I  will  tell  you 


BY  REV.   JACOB   KING. 


11 


something  that  will  do  you  good  all  the  days  of  your  life."  The 
lady  at  last  said  to  herself  "  perhaps  he  can  tell  me  something 
that  will  be  to  my  benefit.  Perhaps  some  one  has  threatened 
to  burn  up  my  house,  or  to  do  me  some  other  serious  injury ;  it 
will  not  cost  me  a  great  deal.  I  believe  I  will  give  it  to  him." 
She  went  to  the  cupboard  and  got  a  piece  of  bread  and  put  a  lit- 
tle butter  on  it,  and  came  and  gave  it  to  the  boy,  and  then  asked 
him  to  tell  her  what  he  had  that  was  good  to  tell  her.  "Well  " 
says  the  boy,  "  whenever  you  go  to  sew,  be  sure  to  tie  a  knot 
on  the  end  of  your  thread,  and  you  will  not  lose  the  first  stitch." 
Well,  I  suppose  she  learned,  if  she  did  not  know  it  before,  that 
if  she  would  tie  a  knot  in  the  end  of  the  thread,  she  would  not 
be  bothered  in  taking  the  first  stitch.  In  this  way  I  got  the 
faces  of  the  people  turned  towards  me,  and  secured  their  atten- 
tion throughout  my  discourse. 

Now,  my  friends,  just  hold  on  a  moment,  and  by  the  assist- 
ance of  divine  grace,  I  will  tell  you  something  that  may  do  you 
good  all  the  days  of  your  life.  My  young  friends,  it  may  be  in 
your  death  struggles  that  this  poor  feeble  effort  I  may  make  for 
your  salvation,  will  be  remembered.  It  may  be  the  last  I  may 
ever  make  for  your  soul's  salvation.  With  God's  assistance  I 
hope  I  may  be  able  to  say  something  this  evening  that  may 
kindle  in  your  hearts  and  do  \ou  good  long  after  I  am  cold  in 
the  grave,  and  I  trust  have  met  my  reward  in  the  heavens,  arr 
rayed  in  the  spotless  purity  of  Christ's  robe  of  righteousness, 
and  enjoying  the  rest  which  remains  for  the  people  of  God. 

I  ask  you,  then,  in  the  name  of  my  master,  not  on  account  of 
anything  there  is  in  me,  or  that  I  shall  be  able  to  say,  I  ask  you 
this  evening  to  turn  your  faces  Zionward.  I  speak  to  you  in 
the  name  of  my  master,  whom  I  serve,  and  for  whom  I  labor 
and  toil. 

Finally ',  brethren,  pray  for  us  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  may 
have  free  course  and  abound,  and  be  glorified  with  us  as  it  is 
with  you. 

That  is  the  text ;  that  is  the  portion  of  God's  word  from 
which,  with  the  assistance  of  heaven,  I  am  going  to  try  to  ad- 
dress, you  this  evening.  Finally,  brethren,  pray  for  us  that  the 
word  of  the  Lord  may  have  free  course  and  abound,  and  be 
glorified  with  us  as  it  is  with  you.    In  2d  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the 


12  A  SERMON 


Thessalonians,  second  chapter  and  tirst  verse,  you  will  find  the 
words  which  I  have  read. 

It  seems  now  as  if  this  was  about  to  be  the  end  of  the  matter. 
Finally,  as  if  the  apostle  had  said  I  am  going  to  sum  up  the 
whole  in  one  conclusion,  and  perhaps  end  his  letter.  Finally, 
brethren,  pray  for  us.  My  friends,  did  you  ever  think  that  the 
greatest  men  that  ever  lived  or  died,  had  a  deep  solicitude  for 
the  prayers  of  the  children  of  God  ?  If  any  people  beneath 
the  sun,  or  if  any  man  beneath  the  canopy  of  heaven  had  been 
able  fully  to  receive  divine  strength,  and  to  live  without  the 
prayers  of  God's  children,  it  was  the  great  apostle  of  the  gen- 
tiles, and  those  soldiers  of  the  cross  who  counted  not  their  own 
lives  dear  unto  themselves,  but  lived  only  for  the  King  of  kings 
and  Lord  of  lords.  But  they  all  desired,  and  no  doubt  had  the 
prayers  of  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ.  All  the  soldiers  of  the 
Cross  of  Christ  have  felt  the  influence  and  importance  of  prayer, 
my  brethren.  Without  it  we  can  do  nothing.  I  say  without 
prayer  we  can  accomplish  little  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour.  I  understand  from  the  Scriptures  that  the  effectual, 
fervent  prayer  of  the  righteous  man  availeth  much.  My  friends, 
however  weak  the  language  in  which  it  may  be  uttered,  if  we 
know  that  a^live  coal  from  off  the  altar  burns  in  the  heart,  we 
know  that  that  prayer  will  reach  the  throne  of  the  most  high, 
and  cause  blessings  to  flow  down  from  the  divine  presence. 
Finally  then,  brethren,  pray  for  us.  Prayer,  my  friends,  is  that 
which  moves  the  hand  of  the  Omnipotent,  prayer  moves  the 
hand  of  him  that  holds  in  his  hand  the  destinies  of  this  world, 
prayer  will  move  that  hand,  that  Almighty  hand  that  holds  the 
destinies  of  the  universe.     Prayer !     What  is  prayer  ? 

Prayer  is  the  simplest  form  of  speech 

That  infant  lips  can  try; 
Prayer  the  sublimest  strains  that  reach 

The  majesty  on  high. 

Yes,  my  dear  hearers,  perhaps  this  is  as  good  a  time  as  any 
for  me  to  tell  you  that  I  have  felt  its  efficacy  some  years  ago,  I 
do  not  know  how  many,  for  I  hardly  know  how  long  I  have 
been  trying  to  preach.  I  was  serving  a  church  where  there 
were  some  old  matrons — mothers  in  Israel.  And  here  I  would 
say,  if  I  had  to  depend  on  any  prayers  for  divine  assistance,  I 


BY  REV.   JACOB   KING.  13 

do  not  know  any  on  which  I  would  sooner  hang  my  destiny  than 
on  those  old  sisters  I  see  before  me.  We  had  some  old  mothers 
in  Israel  in  the  church,  and  I  have  no  doubt,  my  friends,  that 
they  were  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  my  master.  I  was  then  a 
poor  stripling,  standing  up  in  the  pulpit  and  trying  as  well  as 
I  could,  to  tell  the  story  of  the  cross  and  the  glory  of  my  master- 
These  old  women  were  sitting  right  down  there  beside  the  pul- 
pit, and  I  was  trembling  and  shaking  as  I  tried  to  preach.  At 
that  time  I  felt  the  value  of  prayer  as  those  old  mothers  in  Israel 
lifted  up  their  hearts  to  God  for  his  assistance,  and  some  how,  I 
can't  tell  how,  the  word  seemed  to  take  effect,  the  church  pros- 
pered, and  many  souls  were  converted,  and  to-day  I  have  no  doubt 
those  old  sisters  are  singing  the  praises  of  God  around  his 
throne  in  heaven.  Then  again  I  repeat,  pray  for  us,  for  us  who 
are  the  heralds  of  the  cross.  The  apostles  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  called  upon  all  to  pray  for  them,  the  learned  and  the 
unlearned,  the  ignorant  and  the  intelligent,  all  ranks  and  con- 
ditions of  life.  We  want  the  same  interest  in  your  prayers,  for 
God  hears  when  the  weakest  saint  is  on  his  knees,  and  Satan 
trembles,  as  the  poet  says. 

The  apostle  says,  pray  for  us.  One  thing  I  will  remark  here. 
Oftentimes  I  have  heard  the  brethren  pray,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  the  sisters  pray  too,  and  I  have  heard  them  mention  in  their 
prayers  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  pray  that  God  would 
give  them  grace  and  strength  for  every  time  of  need,  enabling 
them  to  combat  successfully  with  the  trials  and  temptations  to 
which  they  are  exposed,  and  to  be  instrumental  in  the  salvation 
of  many  souls,  and  I  have  often  thought  if  they  only  knew  of 
the  severity  of  our  trials,  and  the  need  we  feel  of  God's  grace 
to  enable  us  to  preach  the  word  successfully,  they  would  never 
cease  to  pray  for  us.  No  one  but  the  minister  himself,  can  tell 
how  refreshing  it  is  to  his  soul,  or  how  necessary  it  is  for  the 
success  of  his  work,  that  he  have  the  prayers  of  his  brethren 
and  sisters.  Pray  then  for  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  that 
the  Lord  would  give  them  strength  and  zeal  in  the  cause  of  their 
master,  and  love,  undying  love,  for  the  souls  of  sinners. 

There  is  one  thing  further  that  I  would  remind  you  of.  We 
sometimes  hear  of  the  destitution  of  ministers.  Did  you  know, 
my  brethren,  that  the  way  to  have  an  increase  of  ministers,  was 
to  pray  for  them  ?    That  is  the  way  we  are  taught  in  the  scrip- 


14  A  SERMON 


tures  that  the  number  of  Christ's  ministers  is  increased.  "Pray 
ye,  threfbre,"  says  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "  to  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest  that  he  would  send  forth  laborers  into  his  harvest." 
You  will  get  the  ministers  by  prayer,  and  then  you  must  pray 
the  Lord  to  give  you  the  spirit  to  feed  and  sustain  them.  As 
for  my  part,  I  will  not  have  long  to  eat  any  man's  bread,  and  I 
have  thought  that  even  if  my  brethren  should  now  suffer  me  to 
perish,  they  would  not  cheat  me  out  of  many  days.  I  am  not, 
therefore,  speaking  for  myself,  but  for  others  who  are  to  follow 
me.  Brethren,  sustain  these  ministers,  for  they  labor  for  your 
souls  as  those  that  must  give  account,  and  it  is  your  duty  to 
minister  to  them  in  temporal  things,  to  sustain  them  by  your 
contributions,  that  they  may  be  free  to  devote  themselves  wholly 
to  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

Pray  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  may  have  free  course.  Some- 
thing like  this,  it  strikes  my  mind,  is  the  meaning  of  the  apostle. 
He  likens  it  to  the  clearing  out  the  channel  of  a  river  or  creek 
in  order  that  the  water  may  run  smoothly  on.  You  remove  all 
the  obstructions,  of  roots  and  chunks,  and  rocks  and  other  ob- 
stacles, and  the  water  has  a  free  course.  Just  so  you  must  pray 
that  all  obstructions  may  be  removed  out  of  the  way  of  the 
spread  of  God's  word.  Pray  therefore  that  this  word  may  have 
free  course  to  spread  everywhere — East  and  West,  North  and 
South — that  the  word  of  the  Lord  may  flow  onward  and  onward, 
from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the  end  of  the  earth. 
Nothing  short  of  that  will  do.  You  can't  stop  praying  until 
this  success  is  attained.  Christ  gave  us  the  commission,  "  Go 
ye  therefore  into  all  nations  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture ;  he  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved,  and  he 
that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  Over  the  whole  world, 
you  see,  and  to  every  creature  that  lives  and  is  rational,  the  gos- 
pel must  be  preached.  If  you  know  of  any  place  or  any  person 
this  does  not  include,  when  I  get  through  you  may  tell  me.  But, 
my  friends,  there  is  no  such  place — there  is  no  human  creature 
that  is  not  included,  and  that  does  not  need  the  gospel.  Pray 
then  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  may  have  free  course  to  go 
everywhere,  and  that  it  may  ever  extend  onward  and  onward. 

And  to  what  characters,  my  brethren,  is  the  word  of  the  Lord 
to  go  ?  To  those  that  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins ;  to 
those  that  are  ruined  and  undone,  (you  know  what  I  mean,)  for 


BY  REV.   JACOB  KING.  15 

you  have  felt  what  it  was  to  be  in  that  condition.  I  can  re- 
member about  forty  years  ago  I  felt  myself  to  be  in  that  condi- 
tion, a  poor  ungodly  sinner,  a  wicked  sinner ;  and  I  can  remem- 
ber the  feelings  of  my  heart  when  God's  word  gained  entrance 
into  my  soul.  I  may  forget  many  things,  I  have  forgotten  many 
things,  but  I  never  shall  forget,  no,  not  in  my  dying  struggles, 
the  exercises  of  my  mind  on  that  occasion.  You,  then^  who  have 
felt  the  joys  of  redeeming  love  and  pardoning  grace,  pray  that 
the  word  of  the  Lord  may  have  free  course  and  be  glorified. 

Be  glorified.  That  is,  its  success  is  dependent  on  the  Spirit  of 
God.  Some  one  asked  me  the  other  day  if  ever  I  converted 
anybody.  I  told  him  if  ever  I  did,  whoever  I  converted  was 
not  worth  a  single  groat — a  single  cent.  It  is  the  power  of 
God  that  converts  the  soul.  It  is  the  Spirit's  influence,  for  the 
apostle  says  we  are  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  God,  for  it  is 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth — 
every  one,  Jew  or  Gentile,  bond  or  free,  noble  or  ignoble — it 
makes  no  difference.  All  that  are  converted  are  converted  by 
the  same  almighty  power  of  God. 

Before  I  close,  I  will  relate  one  or  two  incidents  in  order  to 
show  you  how  much  necessity  there  is  for  your  prayers.  I  have 
been  a  soldier  myself,  and  know  what  it  is  to  be  a  soldier  and 
suffer  the  hardships  and  privations  of  camp  life.  It  has  not 
been  very  long  since  I  saw  perhaps  the  most  affecting  scene  I 
ever  witnessed.  It  was  when  the  first  company  of  soldiers  left 
Thomaston  to  go  to  Pensacola.  I  thought  it  almost  literally 
rained  tears.  As  the  soldiers  proceeded  on*  their  way,  the  band 
struck  up  "  Home,  sweet  home."  Ah,  my  friends,  those  sol- 
diers will  think  of  home,  sweet  home,  very  often  before  they 
get  back  again.  Don't  forget  them  in  your  prayers.  They  have 
gone  to  do  battle  for  your  rights. 

I  will  tell  you  another  incident.  I  have  a  nephew  in  the  army, 
and  he  writes  me  that  the  chaplain  of  the  regiment  to  which  he 
belongs,  one  day  gave  him  a  copy  of  the  "  Index  "  to  read.  He 
says  I  thought  of  you  and  Aunt  Matilda  sitting  by  the  fireside 
reading  that  same  paper,  and  I  could  not  help  thinking  of  home, 
my  sweet  home.  Ah,  yes,  many  scenes  will  come  up  to  call 
back  the  memory  of  our  soldiers  to  their  dear  homes.  Let  us 
pray  for  them. 

Let  me  relate  one  more.     I  received  intelligence  a  few  days 


16  A  SERMON. 


ago  that  one  of  the  soldiers  was  dead.  Young  Morgan.  I 
knew  him  well.  He  was  one  of  the  best  boys  I  ever  knew, 
and  above  all,  I  believe  he  was  a  christian.  I  have  no  doubt  he 
was  a  christian,  and  I  believe  he  is  now  in  heaven  praising  .God, 
and  singing  the  praises  of  the  Lamb.  The  gospel  was  glorified 
in  his  case.  I  want  to  go  where  I  believe  Morgan  is.  It  will 
not  be  long,  my  brethren,  before  the  time  will  come  for  me  to 
go. 


^tttjnal  gttmim 


BY  ELDER  B.  F.  THARP. 


John  Wth  ch :  25-26. — "  He  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he 
icere  dead,  yet  shall  he  live:  and  whosoever  liveth  and 
believeth  shall  never  die." 

Called  as  I  am  this  morning,  to  stand  in  this  place,  so  often 
occupied  by  Brother  Jacob  King,  in  proclaiming  the  Gospel  of 
our  Lord,  I  have  chosen  this  scripture  as  seeming  to  me  appro- 
priate. And  I  consider  it  the  more  so,  because  the  first  he  ever 
used  as  a  text.  The  occasion  which  gave  rise  to  the  text  was 
very  much  like  this  which  calls  us  together.  The  brother  of 
Mary  and  Martha,  had  died.  Christ  loved  that  little  family, 
though  absent  from  them,  and  apparently  indifferent  to  their 
request  to  come  unto  them.  When  he  came  the  sister  said, 
"Lord  if  thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died." 
Christ  said,  "  He  shall  rise  again."  She  said,  "  I  know  he  shall 
rise  again  at  the  Resurrection  at  the  last  day."  To  those  sor- 
rowing sisters  it  was  a  sad  and  afflicting  providence — like  that 
which  now  fills  these  sorrowing  hearts.  Before  me  I  see  a  wife? 
a  brother,  a  little  niece,  and  kindred  according  to  the  flesh,  all 
feeling  as  did  Martha  when  she  said,  "I  know  that  he  shall  rise 
again  at  the  Resurrection  at  the  last  day."  The  time  of  the 
resurrection  is  often  felt  to  be  too  far  off,  and  the  effects  of  it 
too  remote,  to  afford  any  present  comfort.  But  it  should  not 
be  so,  my  Christian  friends.  Christ  teaches  that  in  himself  is 
the  remedy  for  all  the  ills  of  the  psesent  state.  "lam  the 
resurrection  and  the  life."  And  that  truth  can  best  afford  com- 
fort to  the  child  of  God.  And  it  would  appear  that  even 
Martha  was  comforted  with  this  truth,  before  she  had  the 
remotest  conception  of  the  immediate  rising  of  her  brother — 
and  so  it  should  be  with  you.  The  resurrection  robs  death  of 
its  terrors,  its  complicated  terrors.     Because  it  is  the  antidote 

C 


18  FUNERAL   SERMON 


of  death,  Christ  introduced  it  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus.  He 
said,  thy  brother  shall  rise  again,  but  did  not  say  when  he  should 
rise.  But  it  mattered  not  when,  so  he  should  rise,  and  shout 
the  victory  over  the  grave.  He  tried  the  effect  of  the  doctrine 
upon  these  sisters  to  test  their  faith,  and  try  their  patience,  for 
your  benefit  and  mine.  And  shall  not  this  doctrine  properly 
affect  our  hearts?  The  spirit  of  our  departed  relative,  and 
brother  in  Christ,  has  gone  to  the  reward  of  the  faithful  min- 
ister—his body  has  been  deposited  in  the  dust ;  but  the  day 
comes  when  soul  and  body  will  reunite,  and  we  shall  see  him 
again  in  the  youth  and  strength  of  unwasting  manhood.  This 
is,  and  shall  be,  for  a  comfort. 

The  meaning  of  this  text  does  not  lie  upon  the  surface.  "  He 
that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live." 
That  the  body  though  dead  will  live  is  true  of  all,  whether 
believers  or  not.  "  There  shall  be  a  resurrection  of  the  just  and 
of  the  unjust."  Christ  must  then  have  referred  to  something 
more  than  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  And  yet,  he  must 
have  implied  something  relative  to  it,  for  that  certainly  was  the 
subject  of  thought  and  discourse,  at  that  time.  His  double 
meaning  is  made  more  apparent  in  the  next  verse,  and  "  whoso- 
ever liveth,  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die."  The  life  here 
spoken  of  is  present  life — whosoever  liveth.  And  the  life  here 
spoken  of  must  be  spiritual  life ;  for  it  declares  he  shall  never 
die — which  is  not  true  of  physical  life.  The  meaning  is  this, 
the  person  who  lives  as  a  believer,  or  who  lives  by  believing, 
shall  never  die.  Or  in  other  words,  faith  frees  us  from  all  the 
evil  consequences  of  death.  By  the  change  which  faith  pro- 
duces, natural  death  is  but  the  property,  the  servant  of  the 
Christian,  to  introduce  him  to  the  possession  of  his  eternal 
inheritance.  With  a  proper  interpretation,  these  verses  contain 
a  pretty  complete  system  of  Theology.  Death  the  first  great 
penalty,  connected  with  the  first  great  sin  is  brought  to  our 
view.  The  first  great  wonder  in  theology  is,  that  God  should 
have  allowed  sin  to  enter  into  his  moral  system ;  and  the  second 
is,  that  death  should  have  been  affixed  as  the  penalty  to  sin. 
Why  did  God  say,  "thou  shalt  die?"  Why  not  affix  some 
other  penalty  ?  The  full  import  of  the  threat  could  not  have 
been  known  to  Adam,  Thou  shalt  die !  What  a  penalty ! 
Even  at  this  distance  of  time,  and  with  the  experience  of  all 


BY  ELDER  B.   F.   THARP.  19 

men  to  guide  us,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  its  full  meaning.  It 
signifies  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body ;  the  separation 
of  the  soul  from  the  favor  of  God,  and,  after  the  first  death,  the 
separation  of  the  soul  and  body  from  God,  and  the  society  of 
the  good.  This  last  constitutes  the  "  second  death."  In  this 
penalty  therefore,  is  embraced  all  the  evils  from  the  apostacy  of 
our  race,  to  the  ages  of  eternity.  To  this  dread  evil,  and  its 
remedy,  does  Christ  call  the  attention  of  these  sorrowing  sisters, 
when  he  comes  to  "comfort  them  concerning  their  brother." 

And  yet,  he  adverts  to  another  subject  more  pleasant — life. 
"  Though  dead  he  shall  live."  Life  is  the  opposite  of  death. 
If  therefore,  we  can  ascertain  the  meaning  of  the  one,  we  can 
also  of  the  other.  That  dear  something  we  denominate  life, 
is  that  given  of  God  when  he  breathed  into  man  and  he  became 
"  a  living  soul."  It  signifies  also  the  "  favor  of  God."  "When 
God  said  in  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof,  thou  shalt  surely  die, 
the  threat  was  executed  in  this  sense.  In  that  day  he  lost  the 
favor  of  God,  and  separated  himself  from  him.  And  this  life  is 
now  secured  to  each  Christian  by  his  conversion  to  Christ — 
secured  on  better  principles  and  held  by  better  titles.  And  it 
signifies  also  the  enjoyment  of  the  favor  of  God  in  Heaven.  He 
that  liveth,  and  believeth,  shall  never  die.  "  On  such  .the  second 
death  hath  no  power."  What  a  blessed  revelation  is  here! 
With  what  obvious  propriety  does  Christ  introduce  this  subject 
to  these  sorrowing  sisters ! 

But  our  text  goes  farther,  and  instructs  us  as  to  how  this 
death  may  be  avoided,  and  this  life  secured.  "  He  that  liveth, 
and  believeth,  shall  never  die ; "  or,  he  who  lives  by  believing 
shall  never  die.  To  him  there  is  nought  but  life.  Even  the 
death  of  the  body  is  a  necessity  only  to  greater,  and  eternal 
good.  How  different  his  state  from  that  of  the  sinner !  The 
one,  now  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins,  will  soon  be  dead  in 
body,  and  then  suffer  the  pangs  of  the  second  death;  but  the 
other,  "  living  and  believing,"  shall  know  none  of  the  evils  of 
death.  And  the  inquiry  is  both  pertinent  and  important,  how 
can  this  change  be  wrought  ?  The  text  affords  the  answer. 
"  He  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he 
live."  Here  is  a  proposition  advanced  by  Christ,  which  I 
would  have  you  pause  and  carefully  consider.  "He  that 
believeth  in  me,"  &c.     He  does  not  say  he  that  believeth  in 


20  FUNERAL   SERMON 


God,  as  the  great  "  cause  tff  causes,"  shall  never  die.  That  is 
a  preparation  for  the  faith  deferred,  but  not  itself  that  faith. 
"  He  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he 
is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him."'  "  He  must 
believe  that  he  is."  And  who  does  not  believe  that?  God  has 
written  his  name  so  deep  and  clear  upon  all  the  work  of  his 
hands,  and  upon  all  the  acts  of  his  Providence,  that  the  unbe- 
lieving heathen  are  without  excuse.  Belief  of  his  being  is 
necessary,  but  not  sufficient  for  this  faith. 

Nor  is  it  enough  to  believe  in  his  attributes,  as  nature  and 
Revelation  conspire  to  present  them.  Many  have  believed, 
praised,  and  almost  deified  the  mercy  of  God,  and  yet  have  gone 
down  to  the  Hell  of  the  Infidel.  And  many  also  have  profes- 
sedly approved  of  the  justice  of  God,  who  go  to  the  Judgment 
relying  upon  their  good  works,  and  expecting  to  balance 
accounts  with  him  there.  Still,  the  faith  we  are  now  consid- 
ering requires  a  belief,  both  in  the  justice  and  mercy  of  God. 
This  it  requires,  and  more  than  this.  Christ  says,  "he  that 
believeth  in  me  though  he  were  dead  yet  shall  he  live."  Saving 
faith  then  is  principally  concerned  about  what  the  Scriptures 
teach  us  of  Christ.  It  is  mostly  embraced  in  the  facts  concerning 
our  Lord.,  That  Christ  came,  preached,  suffered,  taught,  wrought 
miracles,  was  condemned  unjustly,  was  crucified,  was  buried; 
that  he  rose  again  the  third  day,  and  that,  after  forty  days, 
appearing  to  his  people,  he  ascended  to  Heaven,  where,  as  our 
great  high  priest,  he  ever  lives  to  make  intercession  for  us,  are 
facts  which  must  be  received  in  Christian  faith.  We  must 
believe  also,  that  he  is  now  "  head  over  all  things  and  the 
Church  ;  and  that  in  the  end  of  the  world,  he  will  come  to  judge 
the  world  in  righteousness,  rewarding  the  good  with  eternal 
happiness,  and  punishing  the  wicked  with  eternal  torments." 
These  facts  must  be  believed  just  as  any  other  facts.  They  are 
to  be  received,  comprehended,  and  accepted  as  true,  by  the 
mind.  But  there  is  also  another  part  to  this  faith.  These  doc- 
trines, or  facts,  are  to  be  believed  in  the  heart.  "  With  the 
heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness."  These  facts  are  to  be 
received  in  the  love  of  them.  "Faith  works  by  love."-  And 
this  part  of  faith  is  both  reasonable  and  necessary,  for  how  can 
any  one  believe  these  facts  without  shadow  of  doubt,  and  not 
love  Christ  their  author  and  end  ?    It  is  impossible ;  for  the 


BY   ELDER   B.   F.   THARP.  21 

benevolence  and  beneficence  of  the  Son  of  God,  must  ever  chal- 
lenge the  admiration  of  his  enemies,  and  the  ardent  love  of  his 
friends.  The  person  possessing  this  faith  will  certainly  be  saved, 
for  the  word  declares  he  "  shall  never  die."  And  this  doctrine 
quadrates  with  every  other  portion  of  the  sacred  record.  The 
unequivocal  promise  is,  "Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
thou  shalt  be  saved."  It  does  not  say,  if  you  believe  this  a 
thousand  times,  or  happen  to  believe  it  when  you  die,  you  shall 
be.  But  if  once  you  cast  the  burden  of  your  hearts,  and  their 
best  affection  on  the  Son  of  God,  you  shall  certainly  be  saved. 
If  once  the  heart  be  given  to  Christ,  salvation  follows  by  the 
divine  arrangement. 

It  might  interest  us  to  inquire,  why  has  God  affixed  salvation 
to  faith,  rather  than  to  any  other  Christian  grace.  It  is  distinct 
from  repentance,  and  hope,  and  inferior  to  love.  Why  then  has 
GQd  chosen  to  affix  salvation  to  it,  rather  than  to  these?  We 
would  not  inquire  into  what  is  not  revealed,  but  would  present 
such  reasons  as  grow  out  of  the  nature,  and  effects  of  faith;  thus 
affording,  in  some  degree,  a  reason  for  the  divine  conduct. 
First  then,  salvation  is  affixed  to  faith,  because  it  is  an  accept- 
ance of  all  God  has  said,  and  a  belief  of  all  he  has  revealed. 
This  is  peculiarly  honoring  to  him.  To  see  the  force  of  all  this, 
let  us  suppose  a  person  loving,  repenting,  hoping,  and  all  that, 
and  yet  disbelieving  all  that  God  has  said,  and  does  say !  Could 
God  smile  on  such  person  ?  Could  any  thing  be  a  higher 
insult  to  God,  than  doubt  for  a  moment  what  he  says,  and  join 
in  the  satanic  work  of  "making  him  a  liar."  Among  high- 
minded  men,  nothing  is  a  greater  insult  than  to  brand  them  with 
falsehood ;  and  how  much  more  is  he  guilty  of  the  desert  of 
reprobation  who  makes  this  puny  effort  against  the  source  of  all 
truth. 

Again,  salvation  connects  with  faith  because  it  requires  a  per- 
fect renunciation  of  self.  God  has  determined  that  he  will  have 
the  glory  of  man's  salvation ;  and  he  has  selected  this  plan  of 
salvation  by  faith,  in  opposition  to  that  of  works,  because  it 
requires  him  to  rely  on  God  alone.  There  is  another  plan  of 
salvation  by  works,  which  is  stated  in  the  Scriptures,  to  which 
that  of  salvation  by  faith  is  distinctly  opposed.  And  the  Apostle 
argues  to  show  that  it  must  be  wholly  of  grace,  or  wholly  of 
works.     The  two  plans  do  not  mix  together.     The  glory  of 


22  FUNERAL  SERMON 


man's  salvation  would  not  redound  to  God  on  the  system  of 
works,  but  does  most  distinctly  on  that  of  faith. 

Again,  salvation  is  affixed  to  faith,  because  it  is  the  act  which 
substitutes  Christ  for  the  sinner.  Faith  reveals  the  qualities  in 
Christ  which  exactly  adapt  him  to  be  its  substitute.  He  has 
kept  the  law,  both  preceptive  and  penal;  has  lived  in  obedience 
to  its  demands,  and  then  suffered  the  whole  of  its  penalty — 
death.  By  faith  the  sinner  sees  a  wonderful  adaptation  in  the 
humanity  and  divinity  of  the  Savior,  to  qualify  him  to  act  for 
others.  The  Godhead  within  him  guards  the  divine  prerogative ; 
and  the  humanity  of  the  Savior  prepares  him  to  take  the  'law- 
place  of  the  sinner,  and  thus  become  his  substitute. 

But  once  more.  Salvation  is  connected  with  faith  because  faith 
affords  the  best  motive  to  obedience.     We  walk  by  faith,  not 
by  sight.     "The  just  shall  live  by  faith."     As  a  means  of  con- 
trolling human  conduct  faith  is  better  than  sight.     The  knowl- 
edge which  is  afforded  by  the  senses  is  impressive  while  it  lasts, 
but  fails  in  its  effect  after  repetition.     Not  so  with  that  made 
known  by  faith.     The  more  the  mind  and  heart  are  employed 
about  the  things  it  reveals,  the  more  impressive  they  become, 
and  the  more  real  they  appear.    This  may  result  perhaps  from 
that  wise  connection  God  has  required  in  faith  of  the  intellect 
with  the  heart.  At  any  rate,  it  is  true  that  the  oftener  the  heart 
is  employed  in  contemplating  those  subjects  which  are  embraced 
in  faith  the  more  vivid  and  powerful  they  become.     Under  its 
transforming  influence,  how  is  Christ  endeared  to  the  Christian ; 
how  affecting  the  subject  of  his  passion  on  the  Cross  ;  and  how 
vivid  the  impression  of  the  last  Judgment  and  the  retributions 
of  the  eternal  world  ?     Hence  in  the  economy  of  grace  it  is  a 
wonder-worker.     The  great  and  stupendous  efforts  put  forth  by 
man  for  the  moral  reformation  of  the  world  are  in  the  Scriptures 
ascribed  to  faith.     These  are  at  least  some  of  the  reasons  why 
we  may  suppose  God  affixes  salvation  to  faith  in  distinction 
from  any  other  christian  grace.    It  is  not  for  anything  good  in 
the  grace  of  faith  above  any  other  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  but  be- 
cause of  the  connection  it  holds  with  revealed  truth  and  the 
uniformity  and  power  of  the  motive  to  obedience  which  it  pre- 
sents. 

Thus,  my  friends,  without  pursuing  every  division  of  thought 
presented  by  the  text,  you  perceive  that  it  embodies  a  perfect 


BY    ELDER  B.   F.   THARP.  23 

system  of  truth.  And  it  affords  not  only  a  system  in  itself,  but 
in  the  circumstances  of  its  presentation  its  discussion  affords 
occasion  for  the  employment  of  all  the  powers  of  the  mind. 
Here  argumentation  is  required  and  logic  is  at  home,  and  feel- 
ing can  have  ample  scope,  and  imagination  find  unwasting  ma- 
terial. It  can  soar  amid  the  passions  of  earth,  pointing  to  the 
sadness  and  joy  of  the  heart-stricken  and  then  happy  sisters ;  or 
it  can  travel  o'er  the  vast  plain  of  moral  degradation  and  death, 
or  ascend  to  the  domain  of  the  blest,  and  walk  amid  those  man- 
sions where  God  shall  wipe  all  tears  from  our  eyes. 

It  is  interesting  to  trace  the  workings  of  a  mind  unskilled  in 
the  things  of  God,  when  it  is  first  employed  about  the  doc- 
trines of  salvation.  This  first  text  chosen  by  our  brother  shows 
the  character  of  his  mind.  His  religious  education  had  been 
defective,  but  he  had  a  mind  quick  to  perceive  the  hinge  on 
which  an  argument  turned,  and  the  foundation  on  which  a  sys- 
tem rested.  Faith,  he  at  once  perceived,  was  both  this  hinge 
and  this  foundation  ;  and  around  it  his  mind  delighted  to  turn, 
or  to  rest,  for  more  than  a  third  of  a  century. 

How  unlike  the  selection  of  texts  usually  made  by  beginners 
in  preaching.  They  usually  select  such  as  "  Come  unto  me," 
<fec.  Or  "Seek  the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found. "  Or  "Let 
the  wicked  forsake  his  way,"  &c.  But  this  young  brother  se- 
lected this,  one  of  great  compass,  embodying  a  whole  system 
of  theology.  This,  I  repeat  it,  shows  the  character  of  his  mind, 
for  I  consider  the  argument  just  which  decides  the  character  of 
the  mind  from  the  subjects  about  which  it  is  usually  employed ; 
and  infers  the  character  of  the  subjects  from  the  known  char, 
acter  of  the  mind.  "We  don't  expect  to  find  the  mind  of  the 
great  statesman  employed  upon  the  same  subjects  as  that  of  his 
slave  ;  and  infer  the  dignity  and  glory  of  the  doctrine  of  Atone- 
ment, because  angels  desire  "  to  look  into  it/' 

Guided,  therefore,  by  the  light  of  this  his  first  text,  I  shall 
maintain  through  the  remainder  of  this  discourse  that  our  de- 
ceased brother  was  no  ordinary  man,  but  that  in  his  death  the 
cause  of  Christ  has  lost  one  of  its  best  advocates,  and  that  "  a 
great  man  has  fallen  in  Israel."  I  trust  that  here,  where  he  has 
so  often  stood  and  preached,  for  so  long  a  time,  to  the  same 
community  ;  and  ?iovj,  while  I  speak  in  memory  of  him,  I  shall 
be  indulged  in  remarks,  which  while  personal   to  him,   may 


24  FUNERAL   SERMON 


be  for  the  edification  of  us  all.  By  the  force  of  their  example 
the  dead  still  speak.  And,  were  the  whole  community  together 
this  morning,  I  would  commend  the  example  of  the  deceased 
brother  as  far  as  that  of  any  man.  He  was  almost  a  perfect 
model  of  all  that  makes  the  citizen,  the  gentleman,  and  the 
Christian  minister. 

His  body,  though  never  of  the  most  solid  structure,  served 
him  to  the  age  of  sixty-six,  and  it  sustained  him  in  the  arduous 
duties  of  the  christian  minister  for  just  thirty  years.  At  the 
time  of  his  ordination  he  was  so  feeble  that  during  the  first  sum- 
mer he  had  to  seek  for  health  in  the  mountains.  He  returned 
in  winter  ;  but  the  second  summer  felt  that  he  should  die  if  he 
did  not  seek  again  the  recuperating  influence  of  mountain  air 
and  mountain  scenery.  He  accordingly  started ;  but,  while 
thinking  upon  the  destitution  of  the  churches,  and  country,  he 
was  leaving  behind  him,  he  suddenly  turned  round  his  horse's 
head  and  determined  to  return  and  die  at  his  post.  But  he  did 
not  die  ;  his  health  immediately  improved  and  he  never  again  had 
to  desert  his  people  for  the  want  of  physical  strength.  This 
little  incident  in  his  history  reminds  one  of  that  eminent  Gen- 
eral and  patriot  of  France,  Hoche,  who,  when  he  was  given  the 
command  of  the  army  of  Germany  and  was  meditating  a  second 
attack  on  Ireland,  suddenly  failed  in  health.  He  called  his 
physician  and  said,  u  Give  me  a  remedy  for  fatigue,  but  let  it 
not  be  rest."  So  our  beloved  brother  sought  a  remedy,  but 
said,  "Let  it  not  be  rest."  His  body  often  suffered,  but  the 
soul  within  would  urge  it  on  to  duty,  till  he  reached  with  more 
than  ordinary  strength  a  good  old  age. 

Bro.  King's  mind  was  of  the  first  order.  He  could  have  suc- 
ceeded in  any  department  of  business  or  of  the  professions.  He 
had  more  than  an  ordinary  share  of  solid  sense.  This  quality 
in  the  mind  makes  one  look  at  men  and  things  as  they  are,  esti- 
mate them  properly,  and  judge  of  them  according  to  their  in- 
trinsic value.  It  enables  one  to  see  whether  a  proposed  object 
is  attainable,  and  to  determine  the  readiest  means  to  its  attain- 
ment. It  prevents  the  building  of  air  castles  and  the  formation 
of  Utopian  schemes.  It  teaches  us  to  be  constantly  employed 
about  that  which  is  both  profitable  and  useful.  And  this  rare 
quality  was  eminently  the  possession  of  our  brother  King.    It 


BY  ELDER  B.   F.   THARP.  25 

secured  him  the  confidence  of  his  friends  and  qualified  him  to 
give  excellent  advice  by  whoever  it  was  sought. 

Another  characteristic  of  his  mind  was  its  logic.  He  was 
naturally  a  logician.  He  did  not  argue  logically  from  the 
science,  nor  from  the  art,  of  logic.  He  had  not  studied  the 
rules  of  argumentation,  nor  the  principles  by  which  truth  may 
be  defended  and  error  detected ;  but  he  was  above  these  rules 
by  nature's  own  gift.  He  saw  at  a  glance  the  meaning  and  force 
of  a  proposition,  and  few  were  more  ready  to  turn  a  point  upon 
an  opponent.  On  one  occasion,  when  he  had  gone  to  hear  a 
Universalist  preacher,  when  the  Rev.  gentleman  closed,  he 
arose,  and  taking  his  hat  to  depart,  in  one  short,  pithy  sentence, 
logically  uttered,  turned  his  whole  effort  into  ridicule  and  con- 
tempt. In  his  sermons  and  other  addresses  he  always  had  some 
object  in  his  view,  and  to  that  made  every  energy  and  argument 
bend ;  nor  were  his  hearers  allowed  to  depart  in  ignorance  of 
what  he  wished  them  to  believe  and  practice. 

He  had  also  a  fruitful  imagination.  This  power  when  under 
the  control  of  right  reason,  is  a  gift  of  great  value.  It  creates 
nothing;  but  it  modifies,  illustrates,  adorns  and  enforces  truth. 
"  The  will  working  on  the  materials  of  memory  "  has  scope  for 
endless  diversity  and  variety.  Like  other  qualities  of  the  mind 
which  are  necessary  to  constitute  one  a  genius,  this  is  the  gift  of 
nature.  It  cannot  be  acquired,  though  it  may  be  improved.  It 
is  certainly  true  that  the  highest  attainments  cannot  be  reached 
in  poetry,  painting  and  oratory,  without  its  aid.  It  selects  its 
flowers  from  every  parterre  and  brings  its  sweetness  from  every 
clime.  To  the  orator  of  the  highest  order  it  is  indispensable. 
Pure  logic  may  compel  the  assent  of  the  mind  to  the  truth  of  a 
proposition,  but  the  imagination  must  come  to  his  aid  who  would 
charm,  delight  and  lead  an  auditory  to  his  chosen  conclusion. 
When  this  faculty  asserted  its  dominion  in  the  discourses  of  our 
departed  brother,  the  effort  was  so  natural  and  the  effects  so 
marked  that  a  painter  could  have  copied.  Once  he  spoke  of  the 
flood,  and  the  hearer  was  made  to  see  the  stupendous  fabric  of 
the  Ark  going  on  to  completion  for  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years.  He  made  visible  the  contempt  of  his  neighbors  while 
they  ridiculed  the  folly  of  a  man  who  would  build  such  a  ship  on 
dry  land.  But,  on  the  appointed  day,  a  visible  change  appears  in 
D 


26  FUNERAL  SERMON 


the  countenances  of  the  scoffers  when  the  wild  animals  come  up 
and  seek  their  appointed  places  in  the  ark,  and  God  shuts  the 
door.  The  rain  pours  in  torrents  from  above,  and  water-spouts 
send  up  their  destructive  floods  from  below.  Men  are  seen  wild 
and  frantic  from  fear.  They  run  for  the  ark,  but  it  is  shut. 
They  cling  to  the  sides,  but  the  rising  waters  sweep  them  away. 
They  run  for  their  houses,  but  they  are  swept  away — to  the 
mountains,  but  they  are  soon  covered ;  and  the  last  man  is  dead 
from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Nothing  is  seen  in  the  broad  face  of 
creation  but  the  wild  waste  of  waters  and  the  little  ark  in  which 
Noah  and  his  family  are  saved.  The  good  man  says  his  morn- 
ing and  evening  prayers,  and  you  almost  hear  the  sounds  of 
adoring  praise  ascend  from  their  grateful  hearts.  In  imagina- 
tion he  makes  you  follow  the  ark  till  it  rests  upon  the  mountain 
of  Ararat,  and  almost  transforms  you  into  a  devout  worshipper 
when  Noah  descends  from  the  ark  and  builds  his  altar  to  God. 

Once  he  portrayed  the  interview  when  Joseph  made  himself 
known  to  his  brethren.  He  translated  his  audience  to  the  court 
of- Pharaoh,  made  them  to  walk  amid  the  Egyptians,  behold 
their  wonder  at  the  coming  of  the  strangers,  and  to  weep  when 
they  saw  Joseph  weeping  upon  the  neck  of  his  brethren. 

On  another  occasion  he  illustrated  the  condition  of  the  lost 
sinner  by  that  of  a  child  lost  on  the  frontiers  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation.  His  audience  traced  the  footprints  of  the  child  across 
the  snows,  saw  when  it  gathered  its  acorns,  and  sought  for  the 
roots  of  shrubs,  when  it  lay  down  oftener  and  still  oftener,  till 
at  last  they  see  it  expiring  on  the  cold  ground — but  reach  it  just 
in  time  to  save  life.  The  speaker  related  only  a  fact  as  he  said  ; 
but  so  related  it  that  his  hearers  felt  all  the  interest  of  those 
who  first  sought  for  the  child ;  and  wept  sincere  tears  of  sorrow 
over  the  sinner  lost  in  the  wilderness  of  sin. 

Imagination  portrayed  to  his  mind  the  condition  of  the  family 
of  Lazarus  in  such  view  that  no  doubt  this  determined  him  to 
select  this  as  a  text.  No  doubt  it  would  have  interested  one 
to  have  heard  this  beginner  portray  the  love  of  these  dependent 
sisters.  He  doubtless  led  back  the  mind  to  the  time  when  these 
little  children  stood  by  the  grave  of  their  father  and  mother.  He 
pointed  at  the  helpless  condition  of  the  orphans,  and  how  the  eyes 
of  these  dependent  sisters  turned  in  that  hour  to  their  only  earthly 
support — their  brother.     He  made  his  hearers  watch  with  the  sis- 


BY  ELDER  B.   F.   THARP.  27 

ters  the  return  of  their  brother  from  Jerusalem  every  evening  with 
the  wages  of  a  day-laborer;  and  see  how  their  hearts  rejoiced  when 
they  had  prospect  of  abundant  support.  But  when  they  had  grown 
up  together  in  more  than  ordinary  affection,  Lazarus  suddenly  dies. 
They  send  in  a  hurry  for  Christ.  He  loved  these  pious  orphans; 
still  he  did  not  come  till  after  Lazarus  was  dead  and  had  been  four 
days  in  his  grave.  He  goes  to  the  grave,  weeps,  prays,  and  then, 
in  all  the  dignity  of  the  God-man,  calls,  "Lazarus,  come  forth." 
His  hearers  hear  this  voice ;  they  see  the  rising  man,  behold  the 
grave-clothes,  and,  with  the  rejoicing  sisters,  wonder,  adore  and 
praise. 

He  possessed,  also,  wonderful  powers  of  description.  He  could 
make  visible  to  others,  what  he  so  distinctly  saw  for  himself.  These 
powers  united  enabled  him  to  invest  with  great  interest  any  subject 
as  it  passed  through  his  mind. 

But,  in  connection  with  these,  he  possessed  great  wit  and  humor. 
Before  his  conversion  he  was  the  centre  of  a  gay  and  dissipated 
circle  of  young  men.  They  all  looked  to  him  for  their  fun  and  pas- 
time, and  they  never  looked  in  vain,  for  the  fountain  flowing  from 
his  full  soul  was  inexhaustible.  Every  meeting  was  a  new  one, 
and  every  scene  of  pas-time  and  pleasure  invested  with  new  charms. 
After  his  conversion  this  quality  of  his  mind  fitted  him  to  become 
the  companion  of  the  young.  With  these  he  was  a  universal  favor- 
ite. They  relishod  his  company  not  less  than  the  people  of  God. 
He  had  without  effort  treasured  up  a  large  fund  of  anecdotes  from 
practical  life  which  he  detailed  to  the  young  with  remarkable  pro- 
priety. He  did  this  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  them  never  forget 
that  he  was  a  christian  minister,  and  they  hastening  to  the  bar  of 
God,  On  those  occasions  he  so  acted  as  to  make  them  love  him  as 
a  companion  and  reverence  him  as  a  saint.  Doubtless  this  element 
in  his  mental  composition  caused  him  to  wear  so  long  amid  the 
arduous  duties  of  his  profession,  The  bow  ever  bent  loses  its  elas- 
ticity, and  the  mind  ever  oppressed  with  responsible  cares  ultimately 
surrenders  to  their  force.  But  he  had  a  happy  faculty  of  throwing 
off  these  cares  and  allowing  the  mind  to  unbend. 

Added  to  all  these  other  powers  of  the  mind  he  possessed  feeling 
in  a  remarkable  degree.  This  is  an  essential  element  to  the  orator. 
Eloquence  is  to  "speak  from"  the  feelings  of  the  soul.  Feeling 
is  eloquence.  Such  was  the  degree  of  it  which  our  brother  posses- 
sed that  he  could  evoke  it  with  tremendous  effect,  and  force  all 


28  FUNERAL   SERMON 


before  it  like  a  tornado.  He  was  no  neutral  man,  but  thought, 
spake  and  acted  from  his  own  deep,  clear  and  powerful  convictions  ; 
and  when  his  feelings  were  fully  aroused  would  compel  almost  any 
one  to  his  conclusions,  and  force  them  to  his  views. 

And  he  had  also  an  iron  will.  No  man  can  be  great  without  this; 
and  with  it  no  man  of  ordinary  capacity  can  but  accomplish  some- 
thing. Bro.  King  possessed  this  more  than  most  men.  He  was  no 
time-server;  but  saw  things  through  his  own  medium,  and  did  that 
which  seemed  good  to  him.  When  he  deliberately  formed  a  pur- 
pose to  effect  an  object  nothing  but  impossibilities  could  prevent. 
And,  my  friends,  I  like  that.  I  like  the  deep,  clear,  solemn  deter- 
mination formed  in  such  minds.  I  like  the  magnanimity  which 
underlies  it.  I  like  that  rising  above  difficulties  which  it  affords.  I 
like  that  heaven-born  confidence  which  it  inspires.  Such  men, 
under  the  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  are  allied  to  God  and  akin 
to  the  angels.  I  like  to  read  of  the  power  of  will  as  it  is  seen  in 
history.  I  like  to  read  of  the  king  of  Bohemia,  who,  in  the  battle 
of  Crecy,  between  Edward  III.  of  England  and  Philip  of  France, 
took  an  active  part.  He  was  then  old,  and  blind  from  age;  but 
having  determined  to  hazard  his  life  as  an  example  to  others,  he 
ordered  his  horse  to  be  tied  by  each  rein  to  those  of  his  aids ;  and 
in  that  manner  rushed  into  the  thickest  of  the  fight.  When  tho 
battle  was  over  his  dead  body  was  found  with  those  of  his  aids,  and 
his  horse  beside  him.  And  no  man  doubts  who  knew  him  that, 
under  similar  circumstances,  such  would  have  been  the  conduct  of 
my  departed  brother.  The  mind  of  Bro.  King  seemed  to  me  to  be 
well  balanced  and  perfect  in  every  part.  As  the  circle  is  perfect 
when  drawn  in  every  part  equally  distant  from  a  point  within  called 
the  centre,  so  his  mind  seemed  well  furnished  in  every  part  and 
wanting  in  no  essential  element. 

Allow  me  further  to  detain  you  while  I  speak  of  the  graces  of 
his  heart.  No  man  is  great  without  proper  development  of  the  af- 
fections. They  give  strength,  vitality,  power  and  impress  to  the 
whole  character.  Before  his  conversion  our  brother  was  what  the 
world  calls  a  "a  good-hearted  fellow."  He  loved  his  friends  to 
devotion,  and  did  not  ask  favor  of  his  foes.  But  after  conversion, 
his  heart  was  wholly  occupied  with  the  good  of  his  race  and  the 
glory  of  God.  He  was  a  pure  patriot.  He  had  most  ardent  affec- 
tion for  his  country.  You  remember,  my  friends,  how  he  spake  to 
you  when  this  war  first  broke  out — how  he  pointed  at  the  war-cloud, 


BY  ELDEK  B.   F.   THAKP.  29 

mocking  its  fury  and  defying  its  power.  He  sounded  the  tocsin  in 
your  ears;  told  you  to  prepare  for  the  strife  and  fight  for  victory. 
When  every  company  of  your  brave  boys  started  for  the  battle 
field,  he  was  always  at  the  cars,  to  give  them  a  hearty  "  adieu."  My 
heart  was  touched  as  I  heard  it  related  that  on  one  of  those  occa- 
sions the  company  asked  him  to  make  public  prayer  for  them.  The 
man  of  God  kneeled  down  and  poured  forth  his  eloquent  prayers 
for  the  safety  and  salvation  of  the  company.  When  the  prayer  was 
just  ended,  the  cars  moved  off,  amid  the  tears  and  huzzahs  of  the 
brave  boys  who  went  forth — some  to  the  field  of  victory  and  some 
to  the  soldier's  grave.  But  they  felt  doubly  secure  in  the  prayers 
of  such  a  saint,  "  who  is  the  chariot  of  Israel  and  the  horsemen 
thereof."  We  could  almost  wish  that  he  could  have  lived  to  see  the 
return  of  peace  and  join  in  the  song  of  praise  to  God  who  will  give 
us  the  victory. 

He  sought  the  good  of  his  fellow-men  in  the  Temperance  refor- 
mation. Few  men  have  more  eloquently,  or  for  a  longer  time,  plead 
the  cause  of  temperance.  It  was  a  remark  of  one  of  our  best  State 
Temperance  Lecturers  that  he  seldom  met  a  man  who  could  invest 
the  subject  with  more  interest. 

But  his  great  heart  acted  itself  out  in  the  duties  of  the  christian 
ministry.  As  a  preacher  he  was  laborious  above  almost  any  man  I 
have  known.  According  to  a  custom  of  our  country,  a  custom  I 
am  now  glad  to  see  going  into  disuse,  he  preached  to  four  or  five 
churches  every  month,  and  often  held  conference  and  other  meet- 
ings in  the  week.  He  tried  as  much  as  in  him  was  to  preach  to 
the  destitute,  and  to  carry  the  gospel  into  M  the  regions  beyond." 
He  was  a  missionary  after  the  strictest  sense  of  the  term,  and  after 
the  truest  gospel  pattern.  He  thought  a  gospel  church  the  only  or- 
ganization necessary  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  and  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world.  Of  the  rights  of  churches  he  was  jealous.  He 
was  willing  to  go  as  far  as  the  union  of  churches  in  the  spread 
of  the  gospel,  for  he  thought  that  Scriptural  and  proper ;  but  beyond 
that  he  would  not  go.  He  was  afraid  of  the  influence  of  the  world 
over  the  purity  and  power  of  the  churches ;  consequently  he  was 
seldom  seen  in  our  State  or  General  Conventions.  He  thought  that 
the  Scripture  measure  of  efficiency  could  only  be  reached  by  having 
each  pastor  bring  the  matter  of  prayer  and  contributions  to  their 
own  churches  and  to  their  individual  members.  He  thought  that 
Boards  independent  of  the  churches,  and  to  manage  these  matters 


30 


FUNERAL   SERMON 


above  them,  removed  the  responsibility  in  a  great  degree  from  the 
membership  of  churches,  and  did,  mainly,  harm.  Still  he  rejoiced 
at  everything  done  by  any  people  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 

In  preaching  he  formed  his  sermons  after  no  model.  They  were 
forged  in  the  laboratory  of  his  own  mind  and  his  genius  was  his 
only  teacher.  This  doveloped  itself  nowhere  more  conspicuously 
than  in  the  formation  and  delivery  of  his  sermons.  In  every  one 
he  had  some  object  in  view,  but  no  one  could  guess  beforehand  the 
kind  of  text  he  would  select  nor  his  manner  of  discussing  it.  All 
his  sermons  were  liable  to  criticism,  judged  after  the  school-men, 
but  none  of  the  masters  could  give  a  purer  gospel  or  bring  up  an 
audience  with  more  certainty  to  a  given  point.  Few  have  preached 
more  sermons  in  thirty  years  or  baptized  more  converts.  And  his 
converts  generally  run  well.  His  deep  insight  into  human  nature 
fortified  him  against  imposition  from  hypocrites  and  deceivers. 

He  was  pre-eminently  the  friend  of  the  fatherless  and  widow. 
When  he  died  they  mourned  his  loss  as  that  of  a  father  and  friend. 

But  in  nothing  was  the  goodness  of  his  heart  more  manifest  than 
in  the  love  of  young  ministers.  They  were  his  "joy  and  crown." 
He  scarcely  ever  closed  an  Association  without  reference  or  advice 
to  them.  He  gloried  in  their  success  and  was  ever  ready  to  correct 
their  faults.  This  he  did  with  great  modesty,  yet  in  such  way  as 
ever  after  to  secure  their  confidence  and  affection. 

For  about  twenty-four  years  he  was  the  presiding  officer  of  the 
Eehoboth  Association,  and  was  unanimously  chosen  every  year.  He 
presided  over  the  body  with  such  dignity  and  impartiality  that  all 
confided  in  him  and  none  ever  complained  of  want  of  justice  at  his 
hands.  In  his  last  illness  he  spake  affectionately  of  the  Associa- 
tion and  wished  to  live  to  see  another  session  of  the  body.  He  had 
nursed  its  infancy,  saw  with  pleasure  its  maturity,  and  prayed  earn- 
estly for  its  permanent  prosperity.  And  here  and  now,  my  friends, 
let  us  repeat  his  prayer  and  unite  in  his  most  earnest  supplication 
that  it  may  be  handed  down,  a  public  blessing,  to  the  last  generations. 

He  had  great  attachment  to  his  servants.  Some  few  years  since 
several  of  them  sickened  and  died.  He  constantly  watched  their 
bedsides  and  pointed  them  to  Christ.  When  he  saw  any  signs  of 
penitence  how  did  his  full  soul  rejoice  in  hope  of  their  salvation. 

The  full  character  of  our  departed  brother  seems  to  your  speaker 
comprised  in  this — a  real  genius  under  influence  of  the  most  ardent 
'piety. 


BY  ELDER  B.   F.   THARP.  31 

At  length  he  drew  near  the  bounds  set  for  him,  and  God  "  gathered 
him  unto  his  people."     After  preaching  a  sermon  in  the  open  air, 
with  more  than  ordinary  energy  and  zeal,  his  lungs  became  much 
affected  and  he  suffered  greatly.     He  said  from  the  first  that  he 
should  die ;  but  his  friends  saw  no  reason  for  his  apprehension. 
But  soon  they  discovered  that  he  did  not  mistake ;  for  the  hour 
approached  apace.     When  the  shadows  from  the  "  dark  valley" 
began  to   throw  their  dark  length  across  his  pathway   he  called 
his  wife  and  bade  her  a  last  farewell.     He  had  often  pronounced 
that  word  before ;  often  had  he  said  farewell  with  a  hope  of  meet- 
ing her  again;  but   it  was   not  so  now.     This  was  the  last  sad 
farewell.     He  knew  he  should  meet  her  no  more  again  till  the 
Resurrection  of  the  last  day,  when  Martha  and  Mary,  and  Lazarus  and 
Christ,  shall  all  appear.     Long  and  happy  had  been  his  union  with 
the  wife  of  his   youth ;  but   now  the  hour    had  come   when  he 
must  pronounce  the  last  "adieu."     This  he  did  most  feelingly; 
then  called  his  little  niece,  who  was  to  him  in  the  place  of  child- 
ren, and  after  most  affectionately  embracing  her  commended  her 
to  a  "  covenant-keeping  God."     His  heart  yearned  over  the  child. 
He  spate  affectionately   to  all;  and,  after   bidding    his   servants 
farewell,  to  whom  he  had  been  the  kindest  of  masters,  he  turned 
his  face  to  the  wall  and  commended  himself  to  the  angel-guides 
Thus  the   good   man  passed  away.     He   is  gone !  gone !     But  he 
leaves  a  name  and  influence  in  this  community  and  these  churches 
which  I  trust  in   God  shall  live  forever.     You  hold  in  your  cem- 
etery the  remains  of  the  dear  departed  brother;  but  they  are  not 
all  which  you  possess.     When  Saladin,  the  Mussulman  Conqueror 
and  General,  died   at  Damascus,  he  caused  his  winding  sheet  to 
be  carried  through  the  streets,  a  crier  proclaiming — "  This  is  all 
that  remains  to  Saladin  the  mighty  conqueror  of  the  East/'     But 
it  is  not  so  with  this  eminent  servant  of  God.  He  still  lives  in  mem- 
ory, and  in  example  lives.     May  God  help  us  to  imitate  his  virtues, 
follow  his  example,  and  be  directed  by  his  steps. 

Let  us  here  plant  the  Asphodel  on  his  tomb,  which  blooms  on  in 
sorrow,  which  blooms  well  o'er  the  grave. 

If  called  to  write  his  epitaph  I  would  know  nothing  better  than 
that  inscribed  by  Nizianzen  on  the  tomb  of  Basil : 
"  His  words  were  thunder  and  his  life  lightning." 


